My 2005 SXT Stratus 2.4 developed a knocking noise that occurs at idle. It goes away upon acceleration. It hammers like a rod bearing but we removed the oil pan and inspected the rod bearings and they are perfect. The car still runs fine, no loss of power, just this hammering noise at idle in gear. I can put it in neutral and with no load on it (a/c, etc) it makes no noise. However when we took the pan off we found the balance shaft chain in the bottom of the pan. Researching the balance shaft chain broken, it had the same symptoms. We have read in various forums that you can remove the shafts and plug the oil hole and be done with it. We removed the box that holds the shafts and chain and gears and plugged the oil hole, put it back together. Still have the same knocking noise. Need to know what else it could possibly be. I have 260,000 miles on it and the bearings look like new. And it makes no noise going down the highway. If I put it in neutral and turn off the a/c when I go to stop it makes no noise. Only hammering when it is in gear at low speeds. Any suggestions??